Bronze, Bronze, Bronze

The weather this week in the UK made it feel like summer is actually here! (Rather gloomy this weekend but hey ho, let's hope it's on its way back!) and summer makes me think about bronzey, tanned, glowing skin. So here are a few of my favourite products to get that J Lo glow.

NYX Liquid Illuminator in Gleam. This works so beautifully as a primer underneath foundation. It's not as strong as MAC strobe cream but it definitely gives a lit from within look. 

NARS Bronzer in Laguna. Before MAC Give Me Sun, this was my favourite bronzer of all time and I still do use it from time to time. It's quite a warm bronzer but it has little flecks of gold in it. When applied it looks like a matte bronzer but in direct sunlight you can see a bit of radiance on the skin where the bronzer has been applied. A truly beautiful product. 

Laura Geller Baked Gelato Swirl Illuminator in Gilded Honey. My new little baby. Ever since I got this I have been using it every single day (it had replaced my Mary-Lou, something which I never thought would happen!) it's a beautiful golden highlight without being too much of a yellow gold. As the shade describes it is a beautiful honey shade, it is truly stunning and I can't wait to take this away with me! 

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Give Me Sun. This particular shade is very popular and if you know me personally, you'll know this has been the love of my life since I got it towards the end of March. It looks very daunting in the pan and I wouldn't recommend it for fair skintones as it could look very orange but my god this is beautiful. I use this as my all over bronzer and it blends out like a dream and I feel like this is my number 1 staple product for that "just stepped off the beach" bronzed glow. 

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Global Glow. Now this is a highlight which used on its own on my particular skintone would look mucky as it darker than my skintone. However, that's not what I use this for. This highlight isn't as potent as highlighters such as Mary-Lou Manizer from theBalm or the Laura Geller Gilded Honey it just adds a very light glow. So what I do with this is after I've applied my MAC Give Me Sun I take this product on a fan brush and lightly (very lightly) dust this all over the areas where I have applied my bronzer just to get super glowy skin (without it being too noticable, I obviously don't want to look like I have highlighter all over my face). I don't really favour a matte finish, although I love a full coveragw, I love to look super bronzey and glowy and for my skin to look radiant and actually like skin through my makeup and this step really helps in acheiving that. 

Those are my favourite products for that beachy, bronzey, glowy skin! Let me know what your favourite bronzers and highlighters are in the comments below! See you soon!

Rebecca x

July Favourites

July is drawing to an end! Let's hope that August brings us some sunshine in the UK! The past couple of weeks of rain are starting to make me feel like summer is coming to a close, and honestly I'm not ready for summer to be over yet! However, despite the drizzle, there have been a few perks for me this month and they come in the glorious form of makeup products! So here are a few products which I have been obsessed with this July!

My first July favourite is the NARS Bronzer in the shade Laguna. We're in the middle of summer and I don't know about you guys but for me this month it's all about that bronzed glow! In the past I have shied away from any bronzers which aren't matte (I was a Benefit Hoola addict for 3 years) however, whilst flicking through Instagram and Youtube I realised how many people love this bronzer and I was dying to get my hands on it! I was kind of put off by the description as it was described to have a golden shimmer in it, but nevertheless I took the plunge and I certainly have not regretted it! For me, the bronzer isn't shimmery at all when applied, it looks matte but I can definitely see the gold flecks in the product itself. It blends easily and I've been using it every day since it was delivered to me (I think my other bronzers are feeling kind of neglected). I use the bronzer to sculpt out my cheekbones and then blend it into my temples to give my face structure and definition. All in all this is a beautiful product, and lets be honest the packaging of NARS products is just as wonderful as what's inside as well!

My second favourite product of the month is the MAC Burgundy Times Nine Palette. Purchasing this palette for me was so exciting as usually I tend to wear very neutral coloured eyeshadows (I'm a sucker for a good Urban Decay Naked palette) but as much as I love the nude eyes - we all need a bit of colour in our lives! The palette contains 9 eyeshadow colours (they aren't full sized ones but they're a good size anyway!) which have a few bronze/brown shades and then some purple/burgundy shades as well. Going from left to right (swatch picture above) the shades are Honey Lust, Poppyseed, Quarry, Antiqued, Embark, #Noir, Haux, Star Violet and Sketch. I didn't know where to begin with all these shades to play with! The shades which I have been using the most in this palette are Antiqued and Embark (these two shades look amazing next to each other for a bronzed smokey eye) but I think my favourite shades are Star Violet and Sketch blended out with Quarry. Because I have green eyes the purple shades (especially Sketch!) really make my eye colour pop! I've been using this palette so much since I bought it and I would 100% recommend it to anyone thinking about purchasing it as you won't be disappointed. 

Last but not least is my third favourite makeup product of the month which is the Dior Addict Lip Maximiser Collagen Activ. Personally, I am not a lipgloss person. I've never really liked how sticky lipglosses feel on my lips and plus when you've got long hair like mine lipgloss suddenly becomes a hair magnet and there is nothing more frustrating than having hair attached to your face! (Long haired girls do you feel my pain?) however, I purchased this as I heard it was a good treatment for the lips as well as a lip maximiser! And thank the Dior God's because I have finally found a non-sticky, non-gloopy and moisturising lipgloss! THANK YOU DIOR! I often find myself reaching for this after I've applied a nude pink lipliner all over my lips and I love the neutral look the combination has when I have a smokey eye! Or even a neutral eye! I've never really used lip maximisers because I've never come across one that works for me! Eventually I gave up and accepted that I must simply repel lip maximisers, but this is a miracle product and gives me a natural plump whilst moisturising too which is why it's one of my favourite products for this month!

So those are my favourite products for July! Let me know in the comments what your favourite beauty or makeup products are this month or if you've used any of the products I chose and what you thought of them! See you soon!

Rebecca x